Press Advisories

30. 6. 201820:16

French President Macron and Prime Minister Babiš signed the Action Plan of the Czech-French Strategic Partnership

On Saturday, 30 June 2018 in Paris, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and French President Emmanuel Macron signed an Action Plan of Strategic Cooperation for the next four years. During bilateral talks, they discussed European Union issues and mutual cooperation between the two countries.

Prime Minister Babiš started his visit to France by meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Among the major topics of the meeting were European issues, in particular the budget and the future of the EU, brexit and migration. Migration was also the main topic of Thursday’s and Friday’s European Council, where EU leaders reached a breakthrough agreement – they rejected the mandatory refugee relocation scheme, which the Czech Republic has long opposed. Both partners also talked about bilateral cooperation in the field of security, the cooperation of regional groupings of the Visegrad Group or the Slavkov format with France and other EU countries.

“We primarily focused on European issues, which undoubtedly include the EU budget, and I am glad to have been able to explain to the President the Czech position. We also talked about unilateral US trade policy towards European countries and the need to prevent the escalation of the transatlantic trade relationship. I think that today’s meeting was very useful, and I firmly believe that we will continue to discuss important issues going forward”, said Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who also thanked French President Macron for the role France played in the foundation of Czechoslovakia in 1918.

The Czech Prime Minister and the French President then signed the fourth Action Plan of the Czech-French Strategic Partnership 2019–2022. The document is an important tool for implementing concrete projects in areas such as security cooperation or counter-terrorism coordination. It addresses the promotion of mutual investments or the support of student and researcher mobility. An important area defined by the plan is also the cooperation between the Czech Republic and France in relation to European and foreign policy.

From Paris, Prime Minister Babiš headed to Darney, an East French municipality where he and Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini attended the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Czechoslovak Army and the recognition by the French allies of the right of Czechs and Slovaks to an independent State. Subsequently, the Czech Prime Minister visited the town of Bataville, where he remembered the legacy of Tomáš Baťa, the best-known Czech industrialist and the world-famous shoemaker.